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Trustee James Van Houten
James (Jim) Van Houten, served as president and CEO of the MSI Insurance Companies in Arden Hills, Minn., from 1989 until his early retirement in 2002. A marketer by training, he also has been sales manager for Canada with the insurance division of General Motors, vice president of marketing for the non-automotive U.S. subsidiaries of Volkswagen of America, division vice president for the Wausau Insurance Companies, and vice president - chief marketing and strategy officer for Country Insurance and Financial Services. Since 2002, he has consulted widely for both profit and nonprofit organizations. Prior to his appointment to the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board, Van Houten was a senior lecturer at the Carlson School, University of Minnesota, and was a founding board member of that university's Strategic Management Research Center. He also designed and co-taught the most popular course at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, and has been a visiting professor at the Vienna University of Economics. He was a member of the Minnesota high school Math Standards Committee, and the Minnesota K-12 Comprehensive Assessment Committee for Reading and Mathematics. Van Houten earned a bachelor's degree in English from St. Mary's University, San Antonio, Tex., before graduating at the top of his M.B.A. class at Illinois State University, Bloomington, Ill. Van Houten has served on more than 15 boards, including the Minnesota Business Partnership (education committee), Minnesota Association of Scholars (chair), Hill Business Reference Library, Minnesota Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (chair), Insurance Federation of Minnesota (chair), and Center of the American Experiment (chaired finance and audit committees). A resident of the Fifth Congressional District, Van Houten was appointed to the board by Gov. Pawlenty for a six-year term ending June 30, 2012. |
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